


ten years to forgive, ten years to forget

by orphan_account



Series: patchwork pride and a frayed conscience [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-24
Updated: 2014-05-24
Packaged: 2018-01-26 09:41:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1683749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Twenty years seemed like a reasonable amount of time, ten to forgive and ten to forget. He fiddled with the small item in his hands, wondering if he would remember when he saw it. He had wanted him to forget everything… right? The why had he come back?</p>
            </blockquote>





	ten years to forgive, ten years to forget

He had waited twenty years to return it. 

Twenty years seemed like a reasonable amount of time, ten to forgive and ten to forget. He fiddled with the small item in his hands, wondering if he would remember when he saw it. He had wanted him to forget everything… right? The why had he come back?

Levi sighed, and finally managed to get out of the car. Twenty years. Twenty years since his senior year in high school, twenty-one years since he had been given the small metallic key that he now clenched in his fist. 

This was stupid.

It’s been twenty years the dumb brat probably doesn’t care anymore, probably doesn’t remember giving Levi this dumb as fuck key. Even if he did, he probably wouldn’t want it back. Not now, he probably wanted it twenty years ago when everything went to shit. But not now, not twenty years later. Yet here Levi stood, wondering if this was even the right address, if the right person was going to open the door when he knocked. 

They probably wouldn’t even recognize each other when the door opened… If the door opened. 

Levi stood there for a good twenty minutes, and if the people in the house noticed the man standing there for an unnecessary amount of time then they sure as hell didn’t do anything about it. 

Twenty minutes of standing there in the harsh December air. Twenty minutes of wondering if he should just turn back. He probably looked like such a creep. After twenty minutes he lifted his hand, not the one with the key in it, and knocked once. Then twice. Then three more times out of sheer nervousness. And he waited.

He had to wait twenty seconds before the door opened up. Twenty seconds before his heart fell. Twenty seconds before a kid opened the door. Twenty seconds before he looked into the eyes of someone who couldn’t be older than fifteen. Twenty seconds before he recognized the blue green of her eyes, the brown of her hair. Twenty seconds before he was speechless. 

Levi opened his mouth a few times, trying to figure out what to say. There was no doubting he found the right house, but he wished he hadn’t. 

The teen looked up at him, curiosity clear in her too-familiar eyes, he wondered if he looked as scared as he felt. He swallowed before he was finally able to speak.

“Are your parents home?” he asked cautiously, not even introducing himself. How would he? ‘Oh hello, I am your father’s ex-boyfriend from twenty years ago and I’m here to return something I probably should have returned twenty years ago but I held onto it because I just couldn’t let go and I think I’m still in love.’

She gave him a huge smiled, “Yeah my dad’s home, want me to get him?” Levi’s voice stuck in his throat so he just nodded and she turned away from the door to fetch her father. The girl took three steps before just shouting “Dad, someone’s at the door for you!” 

There was a muffled “I’m coming” before someone opened a door from some other room and came out and… God damn he hasn’t changed a bit. He still had those too bright eyes and that messy hair. He still had the most blinding smile… Well until it melted right off his face when he saw who was at the door. 

“Levi?” 

“It’s been a while… Eren.” He tries to smile but to him it just felt like a grimace. 

“Yeah… What are you doing here?” Eren came closer to the door while his daughter (that word almost made Levi flinch) watched. He turned to her murmuring, “Sweetie why don’t you go back to the living room.”

Levi licked his lips, shifting his weight from foot to foot as she nodded, and shot Levi one last look before disappearing down a hallway. “I uh… Came to…” Levi blanked for a moment, why was he here again? Why had he thought it was a good idea? Why couldn’t he leave the past as the past? Because he was a fucking idiot that’s why. 

“I came to give this back to you… It’s probably a little late but…” He trailed off, acting so out of character he didn’t even recognize himself. There was a moment of silence before he stretched his arm out, opening his hand palm up where the small key lay. 

Eren’s eyes widened at the sight. “How…? Why…? Why do you still have this?”

Twenty things ran through Levi’s head. _’Because I’m a dumb shit an never got over you. Because I wore it on a chain around my neck for the last twenty years. Because I’ve wondering how I could have fucked up this badly. Because I love you. Because I was an angsty teenager. Because I haven’t had anything but one night stands since high school. Because Hanji says I’m too attached. Because I love you. Because I’ve loved you this whole time.’_ and so on and so forth. 

He didn’t say anything, because he was probably married. He had a kid, a kid that was a teenager or at least close to being a teenager. Fuck this was a terrible idea. 

Levi shrugged his shoulders, hoping that Eren would just take the key and let him leave. 

“Why don’t you come inside?” He didn’t take the key. 

Dear god this kid is going to be the death of him. 

“Okay.” 

Scratch that, he’s going to be the death of himself. 

Eren gestured for Levi to come in and follow him, and when the raven haired male stepped over the threshold he tuned and began to lead him into the house. Levi shut the door behind him and followed Eren, tucking the key into his pocket. The two of them walked down the same hallway that his daughter had left through. Soon enough they came across the living room, with the girl sitting there playing a video game. 

As they passed through the girl took her eyes off the screen to look at them, her gaze landing on Levi for an extended time before raising an eyebrow at her father. 

“Carla,” Jesus Christ he named her after his mother, Levi didn’t expect anything less, “This is Levi. He’s an old… Friend of mine.” Carla’s second eyebrow raised, and Levi had a feeling she had noticed the pause and how the raven had stiffened at it. 

“If you say so.” She said, turning back to the game. Eren looked a little stupefied at her response, and when he didn’t move she spoke up, “Do you want me to leave or something? You boys need your alone time or something?” 

Eren spluttered a bit and Levi tried not to laugh. “N-no I was just… Introducing you I guess.” He turned his eyes to Levi and smiled ever so slightly. “This is Carla, she’s my daughter.” 

“Like he couldn’t already tell that or anything.”

This time Lev actually laughed and she looked so pleased with herself, even though she hasn’t looked away from her game. Eren just shook his head and lead Levi into the kitchen. 

“I wonder where she gets her sass from?” Eren muttered.

“Like you weren’t a sassy piece of shit when you were younger.” Levi responded, hiding a snicker behind his hand. 

Eren whips around, looking almost like he was going to retort before his face fell into a small smile. “You haven’t changed one bit,” he laughed, “Still an asshole I see.”

“Old habits die hard.” _Old feelings as well._

Eren began to shuffle around in his cabinets, pulling out a mug and reaching for another before pausing and glancing over his shoulder, “Would you like some tea? Coffee?” 

“Tea would be fine, thanks.” Levi’s blue eyes roamed the room. It was nice, kind of small and a little cramped. They obviously didn’t have a dining room because the table was shoved into the corner. Levi pretended he didn’t notice how there were three chairs there. The stove and sink were on the other side of the room, with the cabinets above them. There was a counter top, with an electric kettle that Eren had just refilled and turned on. 

Levi didn’t want to sit in one of the three chairs, but when Eren sat down and gestured for him to do the same he did. 

There was a little bit of silence before Eren spoke up.

“Damn… How long has it been?” It was probably a rhetorical question but Levi answered anyways.

“Twenty years.” _Ten years to forgive, ten years to forget._ Twenty years. Levi was 37 now, soon to be 38. Eren was 35. 

“Twenty years.” He heard Eren whisper, before laughing. “You sound like you’ve been counting.”

Pale blue eyes met vibrant green. “What would you do if I told you I had?” 

He shouldn’t have said that. The room was silent, the only sound from the video game he could hear from the other room. A muted reminder that _this was not his place_. He didn’t belong here. Levi broke Eren’s stare as he made to get up. 

“I should go.” He stood up, and began to turn when a certain brunette’s voice stopped him.

“Don’t!” The sound of Eren’s chair hitting the ground because he stood up so quickly was deafening. Levi turned, wide eyed to look at him. “D-Don’t go. Please.” There was a pregnant pause where neither of them moved. Levi stared at Eren, and Eren stared back. 

Levi almost sat back down, but the sound of Carla cursing in the other room at her video game had him turning again. “I really should go.” He muttered, almost out of the kitchen when he was stopped again.

“I’m not married.” Levi was silent, he was stopped in his tracks but he didn’t turn around. “She left as soon as Carla was born, never came back.” 

Levi’s forehead his the wood of the door. “You fucking brat.” He muttered, and heard a nervous chuckle from behind him. 

“Stay a while?” 

Levi turned around, a frown still present on his face. “Yeah, okay.” 

Eren smiled like the sun, just like he always had, and Levi though that twenty years was a lot of time to make up for.

**Author's Note:**

> So this was a random first line prompt of "He had waited twenty years to return it."  
> and i ended up liking it way too much.  
> this was supposed to end with eren taking the key  
> he wasnt going to have a daughter and then he did and everything spiraled out of control  
> this wasnt supposed to be more than two pages in my word doc.
> 
> ...
> 
> i might make a sequel
> 
> ....
> 
> i might make a prequel. 
> 
> un-beta'd


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